Search Results for 'Eoin Kelly'

It was mixed fortunes for Kilkenny hurling last weekend. The county side got off to the best possible start in the league when they proved too strong for All-Ireland champions Tipperary. While on Sunday both John Lockes of Callan and Dicksboro saw their All-Ireland aspirations go up in smoke against their Cork counterparts.

The official Opel Gaelic Team of the Year for Hurling for 2010 was announced during the week by the Gaelic Players Association. The team reflects the most successful counties in this year’s championship, with 15 players hailing from four counties; Kilkenny, Tipperary, Waterford and Galway.

While they may not have gotten their five in a row on All-Ireland Sunday, the Cats added their five to the 2010 GAA All-star team.

Henry Shefflin, who is nominated for a ninth successive time, will be hoping to surpass the record jointly held by his fellow county-man DJ Carey and Kerry football legend Pat Spillane, whom he joined on nine awards last year. The seven-time All-Ireland senior hurling medal winner is one of 11 Kilkenny players nominated for awards this year, just one fewer than last year’s 12 nominees. Shefflin’s Kilkenny team-mate Tommy Walsh, who has seven awards to his name, received his eighth successive nomination.

It was a strange sight not to see the Liam MacCarthy Cup being hoisted aloft on the stage while standing in the Market Yard on Monday evening among the masses of proud Kilkenny hurling fans waiting to welcome home our gallant heroes. Unfortunately Sunday’s game didn't pan out the way we would have hoped, and for that we must ‘tip’ our hats to the Premier men for a job well done.

Last Sunday Tipp took to the game like a team possessed. They hurled out of their skin in front of a crowd of 81,765. Kilkenny on the otherhand looked a little tired and with the recent bad luck with injuries it was always going to be an uphill battle.

When it comes to hurling clashes, there’s nothing that can quite beat the Kilkenny—Tipp rivalry and for current Tipp captain Eoin Kelly, a win over the Cats would prove extra special this Sunday with four of his former St Kieran’s College colleagues key members of Cody’s squad.

Tipperary's emphatic semi-final victory over Waterford last Sunday guarantees us another mouth-watering All-Ireland final. Hurling fans worldwide will be looking forward to September 5 for Kilkenny v Tipp Part II. During the noughties it was Kilkenny and Cork who went head to head on a couple of occasions. The Cats are still going strong but the Rebels have passed the baton onto the Premier county. This is the first back to back final between these two counties. When you talk of sporting rivalries they simply don't come any greater than Kilkenny and Tipp. The colour, excitement and raw emotion of last year’s decider is a testament to this.

The Galway senior hurlers will have it all to do next Sunday at 4pm in Croke Park when they take on Tipperary in the All-Ireland quarter-final.

It’s not too often I start my column with a football theme but the scenes that followed last Sunday’s Leinster football final will have repercussions for every GAA supporter.